Wide-mouthed pressurisable beverage container

Abstract

 A pressurisable beverage container comprises a wide-mouthed receptacle forming a drinking vessel (10) and a screw-threaded closure cap (28). The cap is arranged to enter the mouth of the vessel to seal against a convergent internal surface of the vessel and enable the vessel to be pressurised. The vessel can be vented by means of a ring pull device (54) to reduce the internal pressure before removing the cap from the vessel. A jetting device (44) is secured to the underside of the cap, being activated upon venting the vessel prior to removal of the cap from the vessel.

Description

[0001] This invention relates to a pressurisable container suitable for the containment of beer and other beverages under pressure, the container comprising a wide-mouthed receptacle forming a drinking vessel and a closure cap for closure of the mouth of the vessel.

[0002] There has for long been a need for such a container for the sale of beverages at public events such as pop concerts and sports matches where crowd controlling regulations increasingly require that drinks are not sold in bottles (which may be used as projectiles) but are dispensed from the bottles into open cups at the point of sale. Such dispensing is inconvenient and reduces the rate of sale, and there is material wastage in the need to provide drinking cups in addition to the bottles.

[0003] A proposal for a container to meet these needs is made in WO 92/17376. This document describes a container for beer and other beverages which has a plastics body closed by way of a removable end closure, the body forming a drinking vessel having an unrestricted mouth opening. Amongst various forms of end closures described, a screw-top lid is suggested, an internal thread on the lid engaging with an external thread on the body.

[0004] However, that disclosure does not address the question as to how such a construction is to be put into practice. In particular, under such pressure as that under which beer is commonly contained, the provision of a screw cap would ordinarily either not seal adequately with the vessel to keep the contents pressurised or the threaded engagement under pressure would be so tight that practically-speaking the cap would not be removable. The threaded engagement must be very secure if there is not to be a substantial danger of the cap being blown off, either during storage or transport or in the process of removal.

[0005] It is an object of the present invention to provide such a container which overcomes such problems as are referred to.

[0006] The invention is characterised in that the closure cap comprises a sealing portion arranged to enter the mouth of the vessel upon application of the cap to the vessel whereby to create a seal against a surrounding internal surface of the vessel and enable the vessel to be pressurised, the construction and arrangement of the container being such as to enable the pressurised vessel to be vented to reduce the internal pressure prior to commencing disengagement of the cap from the vessel.

[0007] The provision for venting of the container, separately from the action of disengaging the cap from the vessel, facilitates the provision of a wholly secure interengagement between the cap and the vessel, and ensures that there is no danger of the cap being blown off during disengagement. It may be arranged that venting be effected by some initial movement of the cap relative to the vessel, but such venting movement should be distinct from a subsequent movement required to commence disengagement of the cap for removal from the vessel. Other venting means can take any suitable form. For example, an area of weakness created in a wall portion of the cap may permit the cap to be readily pierced in that region, or may enable a venting flap to be pressed or pulled out of the wall, with or without the assistance of a ring-pull arrangement. If necessary some form of operable pressure-release mechanism may be incorporated into the container construction.

[0008] Preferably the cap is arranged to be engaged with external formations on the vessel. Most preferably the cap is internally screw-threaded to engage with an external thread form on the vessel, for secure retention under pressure combined with ease of removal when the vessel has been depressurised. The external thread form of the vessel is desirably at a distance from the mouth, so as to leave a smooth exterior surface on the vessel adjacent to the mouth for comfort of a user.

[0009] An internal sealing surface of the vessel adjacent to the mouth is preferably of a convergent form (in the direction away from the mouth) for sealing engagement by the cap as the cap is applied to the vessel. The sealing portion of the cap may comprise a separate annular sealing element (e.g. in the form of a ring of an elastomeric material) or a unitarily-formed sealing portion may itself form a suitable sealing element. In either case, as the cap is screwed on to the vessel the engagement of the sealing element with the sealing surface of the vessel becomes increasingly firm owing to the convergent form of the surface.

[0010] A jetting device may be incorporated into the container, to act in a generally known manner to inject gas and/or beer into the contents of the container upon the container being de-pressurised for opening. In a preferred construction the jetting device is secured to the closure cap in order that it becomes removed from the drinking vessel upon removal of the cap.

[0011] The invention provides, in another of its aspects, a pressurisable container suitable for the containment of beer and other beverages under pressure, the container comprising a wide-mouthed receptacle forming a drinking vessel and a closure cap for closure of the mouth of the vessel, a jetting device being secured to the closure cap and the construction and arrangement of the container being such as to enable the pressurised vessel to be vented to activate the jetting device and to reduce the internal pressure prior to commencing disengagement of the cap from the vessel.

[0012] There now follows a detailed description, to be read with reference to the accompanying drawings, of a pressurisable wide-mouthed container which illustrates the invention by way of example.

[0013] In the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 shows a drinking vessel of a pressurisable container;

Figure 2 shows a closure cap for the drinking vessel;

Figure 3 shows a cap applied to the vessel and sealing the container, a jetting device within the container being secured to the cap.

[0014] A tumbler-shaped drinking vessel 10, suitable for containing beer and carbonated beverages, is moulded in one piece of a suitable plastics material, or combination of materials, such as PET (polyethylene terephthalate), PEN (polyethylene napthalate) or polypropylene. The vessel has a champagne - bottle form at a bottom end 12. A top end portion of the vessel is generally cylindrical and forms a neck 14 which is of a generally thicker wall section than a main wall 16 of the vessel. The neck, extending from the main wall, terminates at a circular opening providing a wide mouth 18 of the vessel.

[0015] A screw thread formation 20 is moulded into an outer surface of the neck 14 at a distance below the mouth 18, leaving a band 22 of smooth outer surface around the neck adjacent to the mouth 18.

[0016] A smooth internal surface of the neck 14 comprises a convergent entry portion 24 extending from the mouth 18 to a cylindrical portion 26 of the surface.

[0017] A closure cap 28 for the drinking vessel is shown in Figure 2. The cap is moulded in one piece of a suitable plastics material, or combination of materials, and comprises a generally cylindrical portion forming a skirt 30 which depends from the periphery of a circular cover portion 32.

[0018] The skirt 30 has a screw thread formation 34 moulded into an inner surface adjacent to the open end of the skirt, the thread form being compatible with that of the thread formation 20 on the vessel neck to enable the cap to be screwed on to the vessel.

[0019] The cover portion 32 of the cap comprises a generally cylindrical ring 36 arranged concentrically within the skirt 30 and joined at a top end to the top end of the skirt. A dished closure disk 38 is retained within the ring, its periphery being joined to the ring. A portion of the ring below the disk 38 forms a sealing annulus 40.

[0020] The drinking vessel and closure cap are shown assembled together in Figure 3 to form a pressurisable container, the cap having been screwed onto the neck of the vessel. The sealing annulus 40 extends through the mouth 18 into the vessel. The diameter of a free end portion of the sealing annulus 40 is less than the maximum diameter of the convergent entry portion 24 of the neck and greater than the minimum diameter. An outer surface of the annulus, therefore, engages the surrounding inner surface of the neck with increasing pressure as the cap is screwed down on to the vessel, so to form a seal; the sealing surface of the annulus is suitably shaped for good sealing engagement. In use of the container, pressure developed within the vessel 10 tends to increase the pressure of the sealing annulus on the vessel neck, thereby tending to maintain the seal.

[0021] A retaining collar 42 depends centrally from beneath the disk 38 for retention of a jetting device 44 (figure 3) when the container is to be used for beer. The use of jetting devices in cans of beer is well known, to cause frothing of the beer and the creation of a creamy head upon opening the can. The jetting device 44 comprises two moulded plastics parts, an outer cylinder 46 and an inner cylinder 48. The outer cylinder is sealingly secured at an upper end within the retaining collar 42 to extend downwards from the closure cap to a position beneath the surface of the beer in the filled vessel.

[0022] The inner cylinder 48, which is of a lesser diameter and shorter than the outer cylinder, is introduced through an opening in a bottom end wall 50 of the outer cylinder to extend upwards into the outer cylinder. The inner cylinder is closed at its lower end but open at its upper end 52 within the outer cylinder. The inner cylinder is shown in the drawing in a closed condition of the jetting device, but can be raised slightly within the outer cylinder to open restricted flow channels provided between the inner cylinder and the outer cylinder end wall 50, so permitting beer and gas to pass between the interior of the drinking vessel 10 and the interior of the jetting device.

[0023] The jetting device is arranged to operate in the known manner, to inject beer and/or gas into the beer in the vessel 10, upon the container being depressurised upon opening. To enable the container to be depressurised instantaneously (as opposed to a gradual depressurisation) a ring-pull device 54 of a known kind is moulded into the closure cap 28. The device comprises a ring pull 56 which is connected to a portion 58 of the disk 38 which is arranged to be torn out as a flap from the surrounding material of the disk to create a hole in the disk and vent the vessel.

[0024] The container is suitable for the storage of beer, under pressure, until the beer is to be consumed. Upon sale at a public event, for example, bar staff need only pull the ring 56 to depressurise the drinking vessel, and subsequently unscrew the removable closure cap 28, to enable them to serve a customer with the beer in the vessel, so avoiding their having to dispense the beer into a glass or cup.

Claims

1. A pressurisable container suitable for the containment of beer and other beverages under pressure, the container comprising a wide-mouthed receptacle forming a drinking vessel (10) and a closure cap (28) for closure of the mouth (18) of the vessel, characterised in that the cap comprises a sealing portion (40) arranged to enter the mouth of the vessel upon application of the cap to the vessel whereby to create a seal against a surrounding internal surface (24) of the vessel and enable the vessel to be pressurised, the construction and arrangement of the container being such as to enable the pressurised vessel to be vented to reduce the internal pressure prior to commencing disengagement of the cap from the vessel.

2. A container according to claim 1 in which an area of weakness created in a wall portion (38) of the cap (28) enables a venting flap (58) to be pressed or pulled out of the wall.

3. A container according to either of claims 1 and 2 in which the cap (28) is internally screw-threaded (34) to engage with an external thread form (20) on the vessel (10).

4. A container according to claim 3 in which the external thread form (20) of the vessel (10) is at a distance from the mouth (18), so as to leave a smooth exterior surface (22) on the vessel adjacent to the mouth for comfort of a user.

5. A container according to any one of claims 1 to 4 in which an internal sealing surface (24) of the vessel (10) adjacent to the mouth (18) is of a convergent form (in the direction away from the mouth) for sealing engagement by the cap (28) as the cap is applied to the vessel.

6. A container according to any one of claims 1 to 5 comprising a jetting device (44) for the injection of gas and/or beverage into the contents of the container upon the container being de-pressurised for opening.

7. A container according to claim 6 in which the jetting device (44) is secured to the closure cap (28) in order that it becomes removed from the drinking vessel upon removal of the cap.

8. A pressurisable container suitable for the containment of beer and other beverages under pressure, the container comprising a wide-mouthed receptacle forming a drinking vessel (10) and a closure cap(28) for closure of the mouth (18) of the vessel, characterised in that a jetting device (44) is secured to the closure cap and the construction and arrangement of the container is such as to enable the pressurised vessel to be vented to activate the jetting device and to reduce the internal pressure prior to commencing disengagement of the cap from the vessel.

Drawing